


Part of My Job

by hardboiledbaby



Category: Nero Wolfe - Stout
Genre: M/M, Plot What Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-07
Updated: 2010-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-05 22:32:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardboiledbaby/pseuds/hardboiledbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archie's very good at what he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Part of My Job

We hadn't had a case in a few weeks, but the bank account was flush, so I had no real cause to stir him up.

Not that I needed one.

It was the principle of the thing. He'd been too lazy for too long, as far as I was concerned, and part of my job was to stir him up, keep the blood flowing to his brain.

The topic at dinner was urban renewal, the city council's latest catch phrase. Wolfe contended it was no more than a pretentious euphemism for tenement razing. While I tended to agree, it was more fun to play devil's advocate, which I did, admittedly with more cheerful enthusiasm than was strictly warranted. However, he ignored all my outrageous comments, and when we finished dessert, he was as unperturbed as ever. The rest of the evening was spent quietly in the office.

It was nearly ten o'clock when I watched him pour his last beer of the night. He waited for the foam to subside to the proper level, drank, and licked the foam from his upper lip.

Suddenly, I said, "The seven deadly sins." When he looked at me questioningly, I added, "You know: gluttony, sloth, lust, wrath. Those guys."

"Yes, what of them?" he replied.

"Well, the thought just occurred to me that you practice them the way some people practice the Ten Commandments." I stretched my legs out in front of me and laced my fingers behind my head.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me for a long minute. I caught the almost imperceptible twitch of his lips as he lifted his glass, and knew I had him.

When he finished the beer, he said, "I might argue, for argument's sake, that some of the so-called deadly sins, when viewed in a different light, are hardly the terrible vices they are purported to be. Gluttony, for example, may merely be a fervent passion for food."

"Among other things," I said, agreeably.

"Yes." He paused briefly, and went on, "Sloth may be interpreted as contemplation, wrath as righteous indignation."

I nodded. "And what about lust?"

"Ah, lust. I'm afraid I can offer no defense for that. It is indeed a deadly sin." He stood up and walked out of the office. He did not bid me good night. I heard the elevator as it made its way to the second floor.

I took my time finishing my coffee before I got up as well. I did the rounds, making sure everything was locked down tight. Then I went upstairs to check if he was properly stirred up.

After all, it was my job.


End file.
